Well-Swept Yard

  Speech Written by Daughter of Tenant Farmer Let's begin here. Spring 1927. The young woman is a junior, probably rising senior. Her subject: 

This photograph dates to 1899 and shows my Grandfather and Grandmother Allen (Julius Henry Allen, Lillian Eremine McKinley) on their wedding day. Showing front and back of the card photograph. The notes were made by Lucille Allen Back of photograph. No month/day has been determined for their 1899 marriage. This was the second marriage for Julius. His first wife, Josephine Farmer (also known as Mary Josephine and Josie) died 11 May 1897.

Written by W. T. Daffron, my grandfather, of Millport Alabama, probably in 1932. It was the height of the Great Depression.  The Hayseeder’s Lament What do you think About the gink And all this high-brow clan Who congregate And advocate Bankhead’s reduction plan We raise our cotton For markets rotten We freely will admit But it’s a fact This Bankhead Act Don’t help a doggon bit We plant the seed And tend the weed Side dress with guano We plow and hoe Keep on the go No rest so help us Hannah We work and sweat Just fume and fret And worry every day Haul it to town And with a frown Give half the stuff away We have to sign On dotted line At every turn we make Then buy permits And send remits With that we can rake We pay the ginner The real winner In this old game of chance His biz is brisk He takes no risk Your see that at a glance We count our dough And hope to go Right out and buy a shirt